[joao292201]

Hi all,
I want to buy an ibook clamshell from ebay. I always wanted to have one, but in 2000 were far too expensive for a student, and now days it seems possible to get one way cheaper.

My question are:

I want to buy one of the first models (the greenish one), that runs at 300 mhz.

If i upgrade the memory and HDD can I run Mac OS X? (wich version will you recomend?)

Can i also replace the original CD drive with a combo (from a laptop pc for example)?

And Finally, will be possible to play DVDs and DivXs?

I borrowed for a while a Powerbook Lombard 333Mhz running Mac os 9, and Divxs were ok, although not all the formats were supported.

Thanks a lot for your help
regards

Jon

[Ian_Bullock]

If you were wanting a clamshell, are you sure you want one of the first ones? The later ones (which'll be called either the Paris or Firewire SE models) are much more capable machines.

You can install a combo, but it'll be hard to get the bezel (the bit that matches the outside cover of the ibook) to fit back on, and it'll hard to install - those machine's are a bugger to upgrade. If you want one that'll play DVDs straight away, it needs to either be a 366 or 466 SE model with firewire - these are the only ones that shipped with DVD drives.

I'm running OS X 10.4 on my 466 firewire clamshell, and it manages it fine on a 10GB hard drive. It is possible to upgrade the hard drive, but it involves pretty much total dissassembly with about 20 different types of screws to put back in the right holes.

I'm not sure how much memory the earlier clamshells can take - mine takes 576MB. If you want more details try www.lowendmac.com - they've got all the technical specs.

Basically, its a very nicely made machine, but the later clamshells are much better than the early ones. But they're all getting very old now - and have small screens (only 800x600 resolution), so not ideal for watching DVDs.

If you really want one though, get a later one - the firewire cable means you can sync with 3rd and 4th gen ipods (though not the 5th gen ones....Grrrr), whereas the early ones only have usb1.1, so you've got no options for fast connectivity to external hard drives etc, or target disk mode.

Hope that helps. But I don't know anything about DivXs, sorry.
Ian

[Ian_Bullock]

Ps, if it helps at all, I had a clamshell, but recently bought a G3 powerbook off Ebay for £150 ($280). That's quite similar to the prices for clamshells, and its a much more capable machine for what you were suggesting - easily upgradeable optical drives, hard drives, can take 1GB ram, and the screen is 14.1 inches, and 1024x768 resolution.

Just an idea, but I know it doesn't have the "distinctive" styling of the clamshell
Ian

[joao292201]

Originally Posted by Ian_Bullock

Ps, if it helps at all, I had a clamshell, but recently bought a G3 powerbook off Ebay for £150 ($280). That's quite similar to the prices for clamshells, and its a much more capable machine for what you were suggesting - easily upgradeable optical drives, hard drives, can take 1GB ram, and the screen is 14.1 inches, and 1024x768 resolution.

Just an idea, but I know it doesn't have the "distinctive" styling of the clamshell
Ian

Hi Ian,

Thanks for your quick reply and for all the info.

Which model of PowerBook did u got off ebay?

The Lombard or Pismo?

The reason because i wanted a clamshell initially was because i couldn't afford it at the time, and because even now days they are quite distinctive. And I though that the first/greenish one was ok for a basic use (movies, music, internet, etc). I know that the blueberry boost a 366mhz processors against the more humble 300mhz of the first series, but I do not really know if you can tell differences at these speeds, can you?

Cheers
jon

[jackmac]

There are other limitations beyond firewire, dvd, hdd size and processor speed, especially as regards OS X, etc.

Do some poking around, starting with the lowendmac site that Ian recommended. Also look at wegenermedia.com. They have used machines, parts, and drive upgrades available.

I run OS X on a 466 SE as well and would discourage anything older. And newer G3's have a lot of advantages, as Ian states, for less than a clamshell + drive upgrade + DVD + ram upgrade (about $100.00 for 512mb, $35. to $50 for 256mb) + a new battery if necessary...$$$

They do look cool though...

Good luck,

JM

[jackmac]

Sorry,

Dupe post.

[Ian_Bullock]

It is not so much the speed difference that's the major issue - compared to new laptops like the Macbook Pro they'll be so slow that you won't notice if one is 25% or 50% faster, they'll both feel like they're running through treacle.

The one I got off Ebay is a pismo, but even that had to have some upgrading to get it usable in OS X - its now got 768ram, 30GB hard drive, 8x DL superdrive, and a wireless pcmcia card. (none of which would be an option on the clamshell)

Having said that, the clamshell would be a very capable machine if you were prepared to run it under OS X.

I originally started my dissertation on my clamshell, but it was too slow at dealing with any pictures I was importing into my word document - slowed down scrolling in Word too much. However, it does play DVDs smoothly, but I'd be very wary of going for any slower clamshells, a. because of the lack of a built in DVD drive, and b. I don't know if the very slow processor and lower ram limit would make DVDs unwatchable. Also, don't forget the 800x600 resolution screen.

Now I know they're unusual and pretty, but make sure you know what it's capable of before you buy it. Mine has run photoshop, played DVDs, gone on the internet, been used intensively for typing, syncing with an iPod via iTunes, but its all very slow when compared with the later ibooks or the G3pismo, and seems incredibly compared to a dual G5 (but that's a given !)

See what you think, and let me know what you decide
Ian

[chefpastry]

As, Ian Bullock said, think about the 800x600 resolution. That gives you so little room to do anything. Web pages will have to be scrolled left and right as well as up and down which is not fun to do on a trackpad.

[joao292201]

Thanks Ian, Jack and Chefpastry,

I think that I’ll try to get a second generation ibook, even though that now days the others go way cheaper. Having saying that, the Pismo option is still quite tempting and I’ll try to have a look to one of those too.

I have another question, but I don’t know if I should post it as a new topic.

Have anyone tried to use an USB CDRW-DVD combo in any of the clamshells?
Which models? (300 or 366?)
How was the playback of movies? And the burning of CDs?
What about software compatibility?
Cause I suppose that the original OS9 or even the OSX once installed in a clamshell may not have a DVD player. Is there any other way around for that?

Thanks a lot in advance for the replies.
Cheers
Jon

[Ian_Bullock]

OS X - 10.3 and 10.4 at least - have a DVD player in the installation. As for your other questions, I don't know - but if you are going to get a clamshell, get one of the later ones with firewire - I think using a USB1.1 DVD drive (do they exist?) would be very painful - whereas a firewire combo drive would work no problem.
Ian